Bring it Back
by ephemeral child
Summary: Merton is the lead singer of a band about to take off, what happens when Tommy suddenly comes back into his life and old feelings resurface?


"_I will bring it back to you…"_ The kick of the drums and the slamming of electric guitars filled Merton's senses allowing nothing but the chords and lyrics falling from his mouth to register in his mind. The crowd before him was full of teens and twenty-somethings all jumping and singing along to his words.

"_I…Feel like I'm running out of time…"_ Merton had never really thought about singing when he was in Pleasantville. In fact he hadn't even known he'd had the ability to sing at all. _"Won't someone say…"_ but in this popular New York club his voice rang out cool and clear; he wasn't half bad if he did say so himself.

Merton had fallen in love with music, finding it to be the perfect outlet for his pent up emotions. He could say everything he wanted to in song, even if he couldn't in the rest of his life. Then when he played…it was like therapy; therapy that had a lot of women and men throwing themselves at him. It was a nice perk after years of being the most unwanted kid in high school.

So after four years of college studying obscure myths and folklore Merton had thrown all of it aside and started a band. That band was presently set to take off in a big way thanks to the band's energy and Merton's voice and lyrics. Of course Merton didn't like to thing about what the lyrics were about, or rather who there were about. That was a life he'd left behind in Pleasantville.

_"Stay with me, I will bring it back to you…"_

He strummed his guitar with the ferocity the band's punk rock vibe demanded, trying to keep images of the beautiful football player out of his mind. Tommy had haunted him ever since he'd told his best friend that he couldn't stay with him in Pleasantville that he was going away to college and wouldn't be back.

_"An American boy, looking at the world, the way I do, you're just like me…"_

Merton's head tilted back as he let the heat from the spot lights and the power of the amps wash over him. This was the only place in the world Merton felt safe. He was in his element when he played; he was no longer the awkward guy with the black painted fingernails and a disturbing amount of knowledge about dark magics. He was Merton Dingle, talented lead singer of the greatest indie band around.

Merton lowered his head grabbing the microphone with one hand and leaning forward with eyes shut.

_"Stay with me…I will bring it back to you."_

As the music died down the roar of the crowd assaulted his ears and he smiled. 'Another good show' he thought 'nothing's better.'

"Lori I have a paper to finish." Tommy growled.

"What is the point of going on vacation if you bring your work with you?" Lori grabbed Tommy's forearm leading him out of the apartment.

"It wasn't my idea to take a vacation." Tommy grumbled.

"You're right," Lori sighed as they made their way to the stairway "if it had been left up to you, you'd still be in Pleasantville drowning yourself in your graduate thesis."

"Hey it's important."

"Tommy, when is the last time you came to visit me?"

"I don't know last year?"

"Try the year before that." Lori pushed open the door to her apartment building leading them outside so that they could catch a cab.

Tommy's brow furrowed, "Has it really been that long?"

"Yeah, but don't worry" She put an arm around his waist and leaned into his side "I don't take it personally."

Tommy smiled at his ex-girl friend and self-appointed minder. "Am I really that predictable?"

"You mean about the burying yourself in course work and grading papers for your TA position?"

"Yeah"

"Yep" She smirked as she held out her hand to hail a passing taxi.

"Gee thanks for the spirit raising pep-talk, coach." Tommy sighed as Lori opened the car door and the friends climbed in the backseat of the yellow cab.

"The Annex please" Lori instructed the driver. "Listen, you Tommy Dawkins are a…" Lori stopped herself remembering they were in mixed company, "well you're not like other guys. You have a lot on your plate both out and inside of the University. It's understandable that you don't have a lot of time for fun."

"You think I'm incapable of having fun?"

"Well…"

"Hey I can have fun! I can have tons of fun, in fact I will. Tonight I'm not going to think about work or…that other stuff at all. Not for one minute. You just watch and see how much fun I have."

"Uh huh" Lori said not buying it for a second.

"What? We've had fun before. Remember that time in high school…"

"That's just it" Lori interrupted. "It's like ever since he left you've been all work no play Tommy."

"Hey, that has nothing to do with it." Tommy barked.

"Tommy…" Lori scooted closer to her best friend. "Tommy look at me." Tommy turned and looked Lori straight in the eye. "Why didn't you ever tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"That you loved him?" Lori said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And there it was. The reminder of what he should have done, what he should have said. But he hadn't told Merton, he couldn't risk loosing that friendship even if he was going to school far away. He couldn't bare to think that Merton would be somewhere out in the world scared of him because he'd told him that he was in love with him. Best friends didn't tell each other they loved one another, at least not in the way Tommy would have meant it.

Tommy sighed and leaned his body back into the chipping leather seats. "I couldn't."

"Why not?" Lori reached out putting her hand on Tommy shoulder.

"I didn't want him to hate me."

"What?" Lori looked confused. "Why would he hate you?"

"Because I'm a guy," Tommy motioned to his body "guys don't tell other guys they love them, not in Pleasantville anyway."

"Tommy don't you know?" Lori asked "I mean didn't he…" Suddenly Lori's eyes lit up as if everything in the world suddenly made sense. "Oh."

"Oh? What do you mean oh?"

Lori couldn't believe Merton had never told him. Merton had come to her a week before he moved away and confessed his love for Tommy. He was distraught and worried because he didn't want to loose Tommy. They had been best friends since before Lori had even moved to the small town and Tommy was really Merton's only true friend. Even Lori herself felt bad for not always treating him as well as the Goth deserved. She, like everyone else, had been a little taken aback by Merton's habit of only wearing black and his fascination with dark powers. It kept everyone at a distance; everyone that is except Tommy.

"I don't know what to do," Merton had said as he sat on the corner of Lori's bed. "I know he's not gay but I can't help the way I feel."

"How do you know he's not gay?" Lori asked.

"He's Tommy! Of course he's not gay, he's…he's captain of the football team and a ladies man…I mean he got you didn't he?"

"So? That doesn't mean anything. I mean half the reason we broke up was because he kept canceling on me so he could hang out with you."

"That's just because we're best friends. Plus a lot of that time was spent figuring out how to get rid of whatever terrifying monster was after us that week."

"Have you ever asked him if he's gay?"

"Lori, he's not gay!"

"Whatever, I still say if you want to know for sure you should just ask him." Lori stood up and flung her messenger bag over her shoulder "Or better yet tell him how you feel."

Lori smirked and shoved her homework that was due that day into her bag. "Come on Merton you can't stay in my room unsupervised."

"What do you think I'm going to do peek in your panty drawer or something?" He smiled and grabbed his own backpack.

"Or something" Lori smirked and they'd made their way to school.

Lori had been certain Merton was going to tell Tommy before he left.

'I can't believe he would just leave without saying anything!' Lori sighed as the cab sped down the street and Tommy sat silently looking out the window. 'How could they both be so stupid? I mean I saw it. Heck everyone in school saw it! That Merton…running away because he was in love with his best friend…and Tommy probably thought he just wanted to get away from him because he was a werewolf! God boys are so…so stupid!' Lori let out a grunt.

"What was that?" Tommy chuckled.

"Nothing" Lori blushed.

"Here we are." The driver announced their arrival at the Annex where Lori was supposed to meet up with her fiancé and some of their friends.

"Thanks" Lori handed the driver the money through the glass partition and hopped out, Tommy following close behind.

"What is this place?" Tommy asked looking up the shabby gray building. The outside was overly simplistic, no windows no sign outside, just dark gray paint and old shabby posters covering the walls.

"It's a club; one Christian's favorite bands are playing here tonight."

"A concert?" Tommy groaned.

"Remember that fun thing we were talking about before? Well this would be a part of it."

"Fine" Tommy looked over as a door opened and the sound of heavy guitar laden rock filtered out into the street. "Who's playing anyway?"

"The City Drive"

The place wasn't so bad once they got inside. They checked their coats at the desk and made their way down a hallway covered in pictures of various groups that had performed there. The floor was cement but clean and at the end of the hall Tommy could see a large number of people dancing in time with the music and drinking their beers against the back wall.

Tommy had never heard of The City Drive but from what he could hear they actually sounded alright. This was a surprise seeing as Lori's fiancé Christian had notoriously bad taste when it came to music. The rhythm was good, fast and strong and they seemed to have the attention of the crowd, he observed as they entered out into the main dance floor area.

Lori spotted Christian right away; he was the only guy in the room with bright blue hair. Christian was a nice guy, in Tommy's opinion, had a good job at MTV and what was more important; he was tough enough to keep up with Lori. The irony of him being a werewolf and not quite tough enough for Lori back when they were dating didn't escape Tommy either. But seeing as he had finally figured out that he had no real interest in girls and Lori had landed one of the only decent men in New York Tommy figured everything had worked out for the best.

"Hey baby, was beginning to wonder if you two got lost." Christian greeted the two friends as they reached him. Lori kissed his cheek and Tommy nodded his salutations.

There was a break between songs and Tommy turned to Christian and couple of his friends. "So are these guys any good?"

"The City Drive? Oh yeah man, good cross between pop and punk." Christian nodded and sipped his beer.

Tommy's eyes were drawn to the large stage in front of them as the first chords of a new song were struck. It was a three-man band. One Drummer, one bassist and a guitarist. They were set up in the dead center of the black stage; behind the drum kit hung a black sign with the emblem of the band painted in white.

The crowd roared loudly recognizing the song and everyone who was dancing before started to move with even more vigor. The lead singer had his back to the audience as he grabbed a water bottle and took a quick sip.

"You know my network is trying to get these guys to do a special live concert or something." Christian said bopping his head up and down as the intro to the song played.

"That's cool, don't you think Tommy?" Lori asked trying to include her old friend with her newer ones, but Tommy wasn't paying attention. "Tommy?"

_"In this hotel, television's on. Sound is down, everyone is gone…"_ the vibrant voice of the lead singer rang out over the crowd as Lori looked up to see what Tommy was starring at. "Holy shit" Lori muttered.

Tommy felt like he was glued to the spot, he couldn't move a muscle. What in the world was he doing here? Not only being there, at a concert that did not pertain to Goth music, but actually part of the band, the lead singer.

Tommy's eyes traced a path down Merton's body something was different, something Tommy couldn't quite put his finger on. The first obvious difference that struck him was that his best friend was wearing color. Merton, the Pleasantville Goth and leading source on everything otherworldly was wearing color. Granted it wasn't neon pink or anything, just a pair of jeans and khaki oxford with a loose army green tie, but it was not like anything Tommy had ever seen him in before. He looked good.

_"Starry-eyed kid, look at what you did. Drank too much, and you never could resist. Give a weak smile, lying on the tile and I count up all the times I've died…"_

The color in his clothes wasn't the difference though, there was charisma. The blatant appeal that Tommy always saw in him, that drew him to the Goth when he'd first had to face becoming a werewolf. It was now on display for the whole room to see. Tommy looked around; everyone's eyes were on Merton. On _his_ Merton. A growl began to rise in his throat but he held it back, he couldn't wolf out here, not without dire consequences. He closed his eyes to block out the sight of his ex-best friend and the line of groupies forming in front of the stage.

_"I'm loosing the sparkle in my eye…I just want to say, stay with me! I will bring it back to you…"_ No matter how tightly he closed his eyes he couldn't escape Merton's voice blaring from the speakers.

"Tommy?" The werewolf jumped a hand came to rest on his shoulder. He turned to see Lori giving him a sympathetic smile. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"What's wrong?" Christian asked.

"Nah," Tommy finally snapped out of the trace he'd been in.

"Are you sure?" Lori asked ignoring her fiancé's lost expression.

"Yeah, there's a ton of people here. He'll never spot us." Tommy smiled weakly, "besides, these guys are pretty good."

Lori smirked and gave Tommy a quick hug, "Okay, if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"Listen we're going to go get a couple of beers do you want anything?"

"Yeah I'll take a Heineken."

"Okay we'll be right back" Lori took his order and dragged Christian in the direction of the bar.

Tommy watched as his friends disappeared into the crowd before turning back to the band. The tempo was upbeat and Tommy had to move quickly to avoid being knocked into by ferocious dancers. He finally managed to find an out of the way place to stand against a pillar near the center towards the back. He leaned against the hard surface and watched as Merton continued to sing. They were really good; Christian must not have been kidding about MTV being after them.

Merton leaned his head back and Tommy watched as sweat ran down his neck to his chest and disappearing beneath his shirt. Tommy unconsciously licked his lips; Merton brought his head forward with his eyes closed and gently took the microphone with one hand. His expression was almost passionate as he almost whispered the last lines.

_"Stay with me…I will bring it back to you."_

Tommy had imagined Merton making a face similar to that one, passionate and fulfilled, for several months before and after he left. Images of some of Tommy's most erotic dreams drifted through his mind and a purr escaped his mouth.

Suddenly Tommy felt his hands begin to twitch. 'No!' he thought 'not here!' He looked down at his hands as the hair began to elongate, he took a series of deep breaths trying to calm himself. He'd studied meditation ever since his first year of college and for the most part it helped him to contain unwanted transformations. He focused on clearing his mind; he covered his hands with the sleeves of his sweater and leaned his head back against the pillar.

"Thanks for coming, we're The City Drive" Merton said into the microphone. Then as he began to pull away from the mic he froze. His head tilted to the side, two yellow dots of light, they were so familiar. Holy… "Tommy?" He said it out loud before he'd even realized it, and of course the entire crowd turned to look where he was looking. The man he assumed was Tommy, since he'd never seen eyes quite like those on anyone else, turned and rushed out of the club.

Merton rushed back stage, Scott and Marc Calling after him. He didn't care about his band-mates at the moment though, as he ran through the tech area and down the stairs towards the back door. It didn't matter how long it had been or how he still felt about Tommy, he had to see him, if for nothing other than closure.

It was a chilly night and the wind blowing didn't help anything either. He ran to the corner and around to the front of the club where Tommy would have exited. When he came into sight of the door he did see someone he knew, but it wasn't Tommy.

"Lori?" He didn't know why he was so surprised that Lori and Tommy would still be friends, but the felt old familiar sting of jealousy as she turned wide-eyed to look at him.

"Merton?" She walked over to him quickly followed by a man Merton didn't recognize. They stopped just short of each other not knowing whether to hug or shake hands, they eventually settled into an awkward one handed embrace.

"Did you see where he went?" Merton didn't want to waste anytime beating around the bush.

"No," Lori answered "I just heard you say his name into the mic and I turned around just in time to see him running out of the club. He looked a little…."

"Hairy?" Merton offered.

"Yeah."

"We better find him before it gets too cold out." The guy behind Lori suggested.

"Oh sorry," Lori said seeing the odd face Merton was giving the guy. "Merton Dingle, this is my fiancé Christian Moscow," Merton inwardly sighed hearing that the guy with the blue hair was with Lori instead of Tommy. "Christian this is an old friend of Tommy and mine, Merton."

"I know who you are. My company has been trying to get your band to do a special concert for the network."

"Which network do you work for?' Merton asked shaking his hand.

"MTV"

Merton nodded, their manager had spoken to them about it but they hadn't decided on anything yet.

"Well we should probably go look for the big guy, yeah?" Merton suggested.

The three agreed and soon took off in different directions agreeing to meet back at the club in half an hour. Even the Christian guy seemed to sense that there was something between Merton and Tommy that needed to be worked out.

Merton had been wandering the back allies of NYC for the past fifteen minutes and hadn't seen hide or hair of his old pal. He did however see several gigantic rats, the first of which had made him jump and begin to mutter a spell to ward off evil spirits. If He hadn't studied copious amounts of spells and other magics he probably would have been even more scared to venture down the dark causeways, at least his miserable adolescence served some purpose.

Not that all of it was horrible, just the time between birth and the introduction of a werewolf into his life. Tommy had been so unexpected, one day he was the walking punching bag of every jock at Pleasantville High the next day…well he was still the punching bag of every jock but at least he had a friend to complain to.

Merton wasn't sure when his feelings of friendship towards the most popular boy in school turned into something more. He just remembered the day he realized that Tommy meant more to him than a friend should. The day Lori became his girlfriend. He still wasn't sure why Stacy or all the other girls didn't bother him as much, maybe because they were all pretty and popular. They were soft and Merton was sure that if they'd ever found out about Tommy's condition they would have up and split without a moment's hesitation. But not Lori, she was tough and she knew about the whole werewolf thing. She could have been a keeper.

God he was so pathetic, wandering the alleys of New York looking for a friend he hadn't seen in over five years and was yet still hopelessly in love with. Not to mention that in the neighborhood he was currently in he was more likely to get mugged or eaten by one of those giant rats then actually run across Tommy. Merton sighed looking down at his watch. It had been twenty minutes since he set out from the others, 'I should probably turn back' He thought. It was cold and he doubted Tommy would have run this far since Lori said he didn't know his way around the city.

_BUZZ…BUZZ…_

The cell phone in Merton's back pocket began to vibrate. Merton stopped grabbing the phone and bringing it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Dude, where did you go?" Marc's voice comforted him in the dark alley as he turned to make his way back to the club.

"No where I'm just looking for an old friend."

"An old friend?" Marc scoffed "Is that code for young groupie?"

"No" Merton chuckled "it's nothing like that."

"So you're okay though? I mean we shouldn't be worried? We're free to leave the club and go our merry way without sending a search party and all that."

"Yeah man, thanks for the concern though."

"No problem bro. We'll see you tomorrow for rehearsal?"

"Yeah, tomorrow." Merton hung up the phone.

"Friends worried about you wandering around at night?" Merton heart rate spiked hearing a voice coming from the shadows around him.

"Who's there?" He was really not in the mood to get the shit kicked out of him for his lousy fifty dollar cell phone.

"A little worried are you?"

A man crept out of the shadows to Merton's left just enough to see his facial features in the dim alley light. Merton's throat was dry as he tried to swallow. The man looked to be a few years younger than Merton himself but seeing as he had at least a hundred pounds up on him he doubted the age mattered much. Not to mention the scar that ran down his left cheek seemed to suggest that the man had lived a hard life and had more than enough experience to take care of a little guy like him.

The man stepped forward. "There's no need to be scared." The man reached into his coat pocket retrieving a silver blade.

"You see that action not really inspiring any confidence in the whole not needing to be scared scenario."

The man's laugh echoed off the high brick surfaces of the buildings surrounding them. Merton's eyes grew wide as the light from an over head street light glistened off the knife's smooth silver surface. He needed a plan, he needed…a spell! He had a spell. He could use it to propel this guy away right? No, no the spells he knew were meant to be used against monsters like Vampires and various demons. They would probably kill this guy.

"what do you want?" Merton's voice was shaky and from the looks of it the man with the scar was pleased with that fact.

"What do you think I want pretty boy?"

"Listen, all I have on me is my cell phone and about thirty bucks. You can have all of it, just don't…"

"Don't what?" The man stepped closer brandishing his knife letting it come to rest near Merton's neck.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble" Merton trembled "I won't report you, just take the stuff and go."

"What makes you think I'm interested in your money?"

"Well the knife…dark alley…I guess I just sort of jumped to that conclusion."

Merton squeezed his eyes shut as the man brought his knife up to rest against Merton's jugular.

"You think you're funny do you?"

"N-no not really" Merton whispered.

'_God I don't want to die, I don't want to die'_ Merton thought. '_This can't be how it ends…alone in some alleyway? After all I've been through this is how it's going to be?_' Merton had always imagined his death coming as a result of some fight he and Tommy were in, he wanted to die fighting for something, Tommy in particular. Even after he'd left Pleasantville and Tommy behind that was how he'd imagined death, he'd never stopped to think if that made any sense. It was only now that he was up against a wall with a knife at his throat that the obtuse nature of that image hit him. '_But god Tommy's out there! I'm supposed to be meeting up with him now; this was my second chance to say everything I was too afraid to before! God if you just get me out of this_' Merton began to pray '_if you just help me through this I promise to tell him everything even if he hates me…and I'll stop lying to my mother and making fun of Becky and I won't let Scott make anymore beer bongs…_" Merton could have gone on with his lists of promises to a god he'd never really talked to before, but he was interrupted by the cold edge of the knife sliding slightly against his skin.

"I can smell the fear on you."

"Oh god…" Merton whispered, '_this is really it_.' Merton squeezed his eyes shut.

He cold here the man breathing beside his face and the sound of the knife scraping against the bare skin of his neck. It wasn't cutting the flesh yet but Merton knew it was coming soon. _'I should have let Marc send out that search party.'_ Merton thought. Then he felt the first sharp pain surge threw him it was light and quick but it hurt…god did it hurt.

"Get off of him!"

Suddenly the weight that had been resting on him was whipped away and there was a scream followed by a metallic thud. Merton opened his eyes, his shuddering breath turning to fog in the cold night air. A tall hairy man was standing over his attacker who was now lying motionless on the ground.

"Is he…is he dead?" Merton asked.

"No, just knocked out." The man turned around, his bushy eye brows and yellow eyes already fading away. "Are you okay?" Tommy asked.

"How did you…how…"

"You didn't meet everyone back at the club when you were supposed to. I was worried something had happened."

Merton laughed nervously wrapping his arms around himself and leaning back onto the wall to which he'd been pinned a moment ago.

"Merton?" Tommy asked not seeing anything funny about what had just happened.

Merton's eyes filled with tears as his laughs became quieter and less enthusiastic.

"Mert?" Tommy watched as the pale boy slid to the ground wrapping his arms around himself.

Merton shivered as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Nice reunion huh?"

"Gotta admit wasn't exactly how I pictured it."

Tommy sat down next to Merton draping and arm over his shoulder, to his surprise Merton leaned into his side. They sat silently for several minutes only Merton's occasional sniffles and sighs breaking the silence.

Tommy didn't know what to say, on one hand it felt as if no time had passed at all. Merton was there leaning up against him, seemingly comfortable, like he'd done after other attacks that just got too close. On the other hand, Tommy knew he'd changed and from Merton's new career choice and affinity for wearing color he was guessing his friend had too. They were different people now. Nevertheless when Tommy had seen Merton in trouble the familiar sense of anger and purpose had welled within him. That was _his_ best friend, _his _Merton in trouble and he'd jumped in before he even had time to think about it.

"So you've thought about it too?" Merton suddenly asked.

"What's that?" Tommy looked over at Merton.

"Meeting up again, you said that this wasn't how you'd pictured it, so that means you've thought about it, right?"

"Yeah, haven't you?" Tommy asked.

"A lot more than is probably healthy." Merton smirked.

"Then why…why didn't you call?" Tommy turned to look Merton in the eyes.

"Why didn't you?"

"You're the one who left."

"You're the one who let me."

Tommy sighed, this was the conversation they should have had five years ago. He should have told Merton how he felt. He should tell him now; tell him the reason he let him go. Not for all those altruistic reasons he'd told himself back then like letting Merton get away and live his own life or giving Merton a chance to be normal. Just the plain truth that he loved him and was afraid he would hate him for it.

Merton took Tommy's sudden silence as a sign to change the subject. It was probably just as sore a point for Tommy as it was for him. Then he remembered his promise. He'd promised god that, among other things, he would tell Tommy everything. While Merton still wasn't sure if he believed in one all-powerful being he was sure that something had led Tommy to him and because of that he couldn't just go back on his word.

"Listen Tommy, I need to tell you something." Tommy gave Merton his full attention. "It's going to be hard for me to say big guy, so I need you to stay quiet until I finish okay?"

Tommy grinned when Merton said 'big guy', he hadn't heard that in a long time "Okay." He answered.

"I didn't leave because of hating Pleasantville, or the people we grew up with or you for that matter." Merton sighed "I left because of me, because I was afraid of what I would do if I stayed. I had something I wanted to tell you and I didn't think I could hold it in much longer, and this thing I wanted to tell you…well it probably would have lost me your friendship. It was only after the first few weeks away, when you didn't call and I didn't call, that I realized I lost you anyway."

"Merton…"

Merton covered Tommy's mouth with his hand. "No Tommy I need to get through this." Merton took a deep calming breath hoping to rid him self of all the anxiety was feeling. It didn't work. '_Damn yoga_' Merton silently cursed. "Okay…you see, well I was kind of inlovewithyou. There, I said it." Merton smirked; it was nice to have that off his chest.

Tommy's eyes were big when Merton looked up at him. Merton kept his hand over Tommy's mouth, whatever his old friend was about to say Merton wasn't sure he wanted to hear.

After a moment Tommy blinked and looked down into Merton's blue eyes. '_Did he really say what I think he did?'_ Tommy wondered. How could he have not known? It wasn't like Merton had been particularly tactful when it went to chasing after girls in high school, how could he have never noticed Merton's attentions?

Tommy slowly pulled Merton's hand away from his mouth, "Y-you loved me too?" It was Tommy's turn to be nervous.

"Well yeah, I mean I did…I mean I haven't seen you in years we're probably…did you just say too?" Merton's eyes grew wide as he looked up at Tommy.

"That's why I let you go." Tommy all but whispered "I didn't want to tell you and have you hate me."

"Tommy I could never hate you." Merton was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that Tommy was still holding his hand, and that Tommy's thumb had started rubbing softly over his knuckles. "We're so stupid." Merton smiled.

"Yeah, world class idiots" Tommy laughed.

There was an awkward pause, both boys stared at each other, both not knowing how to proceed with the conversation.

"ohh…" Merton's attacker moaned from his place on the ground.

"What do you say we get out of here?" Tommy stood.

"Good idea." Merton looked warily at the man still sprawled on the ground.


End file.
